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1-sasha-stuff-1 · 4 months

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The Hunger Games: The Rise of the Phoenix

A/n:

Sorry I haven't posed on either story; I'll start writing for the other story soon enough. But I hope you enjoy the new chapter for this one!

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Y/n sat quietly in her compartment, the clatter of the train blending with the distant hum of conversations that Effie was having with Mineta.

Gazing out the window, she watched the landscape as they left District 12. The trees merged into a continuous green blur, and her eyes caught sight of a figure, shrouded within the trees.

Sitting up straighter on her bed, she focused on the figure standing behind the tree.

They wore vibrant dresses. The skirt was a cascade of ruffles, boasting hues of raspberry pink, royal blue, and sunflower yellow. The bodice resembled a corset, adorned with a blouse underneath. Their dark curls danced in the breeze as they seemed to lock eyes with her, beautiful brown eyes meeting Y/n’s own.

Noticing movement behind the mysterious woman, Y/n saw other faces—some younger, some older. As she leaned towards the window for a clearer view, a knock interrupted her, prompting her to pivot towards the door and invite the visitor inside.

Effie entered, striding towards Y/n’s closet and flinging open the doors as she spoke.

“Oh, why haven’t you changed?! You need to be ready for the Capitol, darling. You can’t present yourself in…um, that.”

Looking down at her attire, Y/n saw nothing amiss with the faded colors and the slightly frayed edges of her clothes.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“What’s wrong?!”

Effie stared at her as if she had seen an apparition. Composing herself, Effie smiled at Y/n and gestured towards her outfit.

“What you’ve got on, young lady, is—no offense—horrendous! The Capitol won’t approve, and I certainly don’t! Come here; I’ll fix you right up!”

She grasped Y/n’s arms and guided her to sit on the edge of the bed. Effie then rummaged through the closet, muttering her thoughts on each garment she examined. “Too dark, ew, too mucky, mmmmm…. that’s not bad, but it isn’t you…”

“Effie, it’s fine. I can keep wearing this—”

“Ha! I found the perfect one!”

Effie produced the ideal shade of f/c dress from the closet, presenting it to Y/n with a beaming smile. The f/c silk flowed through Y/n’s fingers like water, devoid of any wrinkles or creases.

“Well? Try it on!”

Effie encouraged as she headed for the door. Opening it, she stepped through and offered a few parting words before closing it behind her.

“I’ll be waiting in the main area.”

As the door shut, Y/n proceeded to the bathroom to shower. It took her a moment to figure out the shower’s mechanics, but once she did, she never wanted to leave.

Immersed in the shower, Y/n’s thoughts drifted away from the figures in the forest. But unbeknownst to her, they hadn’t forgotten about her—and they never would.

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“Oh, darling, I told you you’d look beautiful!”

“And hot! Oh, I would give anything to have a peek underneath that—”

“I will kill you right here, right now if you don’t shut the hell up, Mineta. I don’t care if the games haven’t started yet.”

You sat in an empty royal blue armchair with gold lining, crossed your leg over another, and glared daggers at the boy as his face had gone white and he had started to shake uncontrollably. You guessed it was a good thing that you wore black leggings underneath the dress after all.

“Oh, honey, those shoes? Out of all the other ones, you chose those?”

“Yeah, I like them, and I’ll die in them too.”

The shoes you wore were f/c Converse. Like hell you would change into those uncomfortable high heels. And besides, you always dreamed of these shoes since you first saw them on some random tribute who had gone into the Hunger Games a couple of years back.

“Well, at least they match.”

Effie smiled at you, and you returned it, now turning to stare out the window. You noticed a tunnel coming up ahead, and once the train entered, everything turned pitch black.

In the dark, you could hear a door open and close as someone seemed to have entered. Mineta gave a small squeak, and Effie gasped as you all heard something shatter on the floor.

Suddenly standing, you grabbed the nearest thing within your reach, which happened to be a lamp, and gripped it in your dominant hand, pulled back and ready to throw it at the mysterious person in the dark room.

You walked silently towards the person’s silhouette, wondering who it could be—a guard? Another tribute you had yet to meet. You didn’t know, nor did you want to wait around and find out. These were the Hunger Games, after all, and like hell you’d die before they even got to the Capitol.

Now walking right behind the person, you raised the lamp and bashed it on the person’s head. Their hands flew up to their head, and you prepared to bash it once more, but they whipped around and grabbed hold of the lamp and threw it across the room, causing a few dishes or something to crash on the floor and shatter.

Mineta was now fully crying, while Effie was shouting.

“What is going on?!”

“I don’t wanna die! I promise not to say those words again, Y/n! Don’t kill me!”

The mystery person was now walking towards you as you started to back up. Desperate, you grabbed something (a wine bottle, if you had to guess) and swung it at their face, the sound of glass shattering was heard.

What seemed to have been hours, the train finally came out of the tunnel, and the light flooded back into the room.

As you looked around the room, you saw that Effie was slightly shaken up, while Mineta was still crying and hugging Effie’s leg. You looked in your hands and saw the remains of a wine bottle, blood slowly dripping from the glass edges and onto your hand.

Looking up, you saw that the mysterious person you had hit was a middle-aged man. His hair was a dark blond color, with streaks of gray. His gray eyes bore into yours, and the room became quiet. Effie, seeming to recognize the man, gasped slightly, but cleared her throat.

“Mineta, Y/n, he’s your mentor—”

“Haymitch.”

The man, Haymitch, said as he finished Effie’s sentence. He brought his hand up to his cheek and touched the wound that you had just given him. Blood trickled down his face, staining his stubble.

“Great, you just gave me a new scar, kid.” He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He glared at you, as if daring you to attack him again.

A surge of anger and fear flooded into your mind as you glared back at Haymitch. You knew who he was, everyone knew him. He was the victor of the 50th annual Hunger games, and a drunk man who wasted his life away in the victors village, drinking his life away with every bottle of alcohol he could get his hands on. You felt anger because he’s glaring at you, but you also felt fear. Fear because this sad excuse of a man is supposed to mentor you and teach you how to survive. Somehow, you don’t think that’s going to be happening anytime soon.

“Sorry, I didn’t know it was you,” you said trying to sound calm and collected. “I thought you were someone else, an intruder.”

“Intruder? On a train full of guards and cameras? Don’t be ridiculous kid, you're lucky that I didn’t kill you right there on the spot.” Haymitch said as he grabbed a nearby napkin and wiped off the blood from his face.

“You must have been really brave, or really stupid to have attacked your own mentor.”

He was getting on your nerves, so you decided that staying quiet had lasted long enough.

“Well at least I’m not some drunk guy wasting my days when people are dying out there.”

“Excuse me?” The older man said as he took a couple more steps toward you, but before anything else could happen Effie interfered, placing herself in the middle while holding a hand out at Haymitch and taking the broken bloody bottle out of your hand and placed it onto the table.

“Now Haymitch, she didn’t know any better, she’s only a child.”

Haythich snorted, as if he found what Effie had said amusing.

“A child? She’s a tribute, Effie, and a good one that is. She’s a fighter, she’s no child. And she’s a weapon, a damn good one too.”

He looked at you once more, a hint of admiration in his eyes. You felt a curiosity and confusion rise, why did he switch up his attitude and opinion on you so fast? You didn’t have time to ask as Haymitch continued.

“But she’s reckless, impulsive, and naive. Why? Because she didn’t think twice or about the consequences on what would’ve happened after she attacked me. I’d be lying if I said she wasn't something I needed to see one day.”

“Haythich, I don’t know if that’s you really saying those words, or just the liquor talking.” Effie said as she now stood beside you so you and Haymitch now faced each other and he answered back to her.

“It’s not the liquor or I’d be saying all sorts of shit right now.”

He then gestured towards Mineta, who was still sobbing on the floor. Y/n felt a pang of disgust and pity for him. Haymitch looked at the younger male, he was there when they picked the tributes. He knew right away -and the events that had just occurred confirmed it- that he was nothing like you. He was weak, cowardly, and not to mention perverted.

“That boy, he has no chance of surviving my training. And if he can’t handle me, then he has absolutely no chance of surviving the Hunger games.”

Effie slightly tried to stutter out a response while Mineta stopped crying and was now sniffling as he talked.

“I’m not gonna d-die, right? I-I want to go home!”

Haymitch raised his hand and Mineta stopped talking, he then pointed at the purple headed boy with slight disgust in his eyes.

“Why would I train and waste my energy on someone weak like you, when I have this,” He grabbed onto your shoulders and pushed you in front of him, shaking you slightly as if showing off a new toy he received for his birthday.

“A monster in the making?”

Mineta looked heartbroken, but it was true, all of what Haymitch had said. He was weak and useless. He had no muscle whatsoever, no skill, always relying on others, and just plain out useless. There wasn't even a slimmer chance that he was going to get at least one sponsor to help him out in the games.

Effie hadn't said anything more as she looked at Haymitch, a questioning expression on her face.

“Then what are you going to do with him?”

Haymitch laughed.

He really just plain out laughed and it unnerved you, you tried to move away from him but his grip on your shoulders increased and held you in place.

After a few minutes, he finally settled down and stopped laughing. Sighing, he looked at Effie.

“Oh Effie, Effie, Effie, I’m not going to do anything about him. He’s all yours, train him how you like. But this one,”

He gestured at you as he patted your shoulders.

“I’m turning this one into a killing machine.”

| | | | | | A/n:

I actually felt bad for Mineta for a second 💀.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I had to run this thing through AI so it could detect any words or phrases that didn't make sense so I could fix it and suggest some tips on how to improve my writing, since I'm a newbie at writing. But I also started journaling in a notebook I had laying around so that should help me a little. I also just got off for winter break at school, thank god for that 🙏🏽.

I hope you enjoy your winter break and have a good rest of your day!

#for you #bakugo katsuki #hitoshi shinsou #fanfic #mha #mha fanfiction #dabi #mha x reader #all for one #all might #the hunger games #thg series #thg fanfiction #platonic haymitch #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #gale #hunger games

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katnissmellarkkk · 2 years

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would you write a part two to your oneshot where katniss is captured and rescued in mj? 🙏🏻 pretty please 🙏🏻

AN: here you go, nonny! I only posted a tiny part here but the rest is on ao3! Hope you like it and it’s not too full of typos! Also I combined this oneshot with another prompt, possibly from you so hopefully you don’t mind 🤍🤍🤍.

Summary : Sequel oneshot to Eyes Full Of Storm Clouds, where Katniss was captured instead of Peeta in Mockingjay and then rescued.

Days after being rescued from the Capitol, Peeta helps Katniss try to overcome one of the many fears Snow left her with.

I walk down the corridor leading to Coin’s office, dreading what I know is about to come. Dreading the way I know this meeting is bound to end.

Coin wants to see Katniss for the first time since her rescue. She wants to meet and congratulate Katniss on her brave survival in captivity, on her obvious strength and tenacity, that surely it’s those exact qualities that should be accredited to how she made it out of Snow’s clutches alive. She wants to compliment her on her stamina that brought her here to the rebels in Thirteen.

But Katniss isn’t one for niceties or compliments, or even platitudes, not even now, not even after all the truly terrible things Snow and his men put her through. And I just cannot stand here and act like this whole meeting isn’t destined to end badly.

But no one cares what I think. As it turns out — though it’s no real shock — the only relevancy I still have to the leaders of Thirteen is my connection to Katniss. Since her rescue, no one’s needed me or Gale or Finnick to do propos in an effort to unite the nation.

Which I’m completely fine with. I didn’t enjoy filming them anymore than Gale did — even if I wasn’t as vocal about my disdain — and I don’t even think there’s anyone who could drag me away from Katniss long enough to do one now anyway. But I still take note of Coin’s change in attitude towards me since her Mockjngjay arrived. Her change in attitude towards almost all of us in the last week.

The President of Thirteen would have thrown every one of us — aside from Gale, her favorite new solider — to the wayside if Katniss didn’t need us around.

And it’s no secret to anyone that if Katniss didn’t need me, if she didn’t make her desire for my constant presence abundantly clear, I would have no problem disappearing off the face of this compound without a second thought.

She’s sitting in a chair that looks better suited to fit Haymitch than her malnourished body when I enter Coin’s office. Her hair is only slightly improved than when she first arrived here. It’s still tangled and ratted, pulled up now in a messy ponytail instead of her signature braid, and her face is still covered in bruises and cuts. Her mother cleansed her of any blood the night she was brought here but the purplish, blue marks still litter almost any visible surface of her body, and my chest hurts every single time I look at her.

My chest still hurts with pain because the aftereffects of what Snow did to her — what Snow did to break her — are so plain to see. And, in complete juxtaposition, my chest hurts with pure, unadulterated joy every single time I look at her, because no matter how different she may be, she’s still my Katniss and she still means more to me than the moon and stars in the sky.

“Peeta,” she whispers, almost inaudibly, when she recognizes I’ve entered the room. She still has barely spoken at all, in the seven days she’s been here. And she still doesn’t speak above a mumble if she can help it.

“Hi, you,” I greet, matching her warm, quiet tone as I close the space between us. I sit in the empty chair to her left, leaning down and softly kissing her forehead, the way she likes being greeted nowadays.

Gale is on her other side, clutching her hand tightly, refusing to let go. Not out of jealousy, not out of possession or anything it could have potentially been months ago. No, he’s holding her hand out of support, out of pure protective instinct, because in spite of how complex our situation may be, it’s utterly undeniable that Gale loves her too. That he too knows what she needs right now, above all else, is total support and unadulterated compassion from all the people in her life.

Neither one of us have made a mention of her feelings, of who she may choose — the question seems to stupid after all that’s happened of late — or of which of us cares for her more. Not even to each other, after she’s fallen asleep or when we linger in the halls as her mother cares for her.

Because after everything she’s been through, it feels silly to ask her to pick which one of us she loves more. To ask her to pick which one of us she feels romantically for, when she still can’t force herself even speak.

Well, she can’t force herself to speak to anyone other than me.

Katniss leans her forehead against my shoulder for a long moment, and it’s only then that I realize she’s trembling.

“Katniss, if you don’t want to do this, we can leave,” I immediately promise her, moving my hand to lightly cup her cheek, planting another kiss on her hairline.

Judging by the look on Gale’s face, he’s already said much of the same to her before I arrived. “C’mon, Catnip,” he urges her quietly, working hard to keep his voice low too. Loud noises terrify her to an incredibly humiliating — in her mind only — level. “You don’t need to do this.”

I rub her back in slow circles, giving the room a customary glance to make sure no one else has joined us yet. Checking to see if we can slip out without Coin or her soldiers seeing. “We can go back to your room,” I reiterate, wanting her to just say yes so I can get her out of here and far, far away from Coin. “You won’t have to explain yourself to anyone, I promise.”

“Yeah,” Gale chimes right in. He agrees with me on this. Neither us nor anyone else who cares for Katniss thinks Coin is going to be good for her recovery. “We’ll do that. We’ll talk to Coin. You can just go back to your room and-“

Gale’s offer is cut off by the heavy steel door opening again, and the arrival of Haymitch, Plutarch, his assistant, Boggs and the president herself.

Read The Rest On AO3

#everlark #thg #hunger games #katniss everdeen #Peeta mellark #my writing #100 #everlark fanfic #oneshot #everlark fic #haymitch abernathy #gale hawthorne #platonic everthorne #mockingjay AU

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lemonluvgirl · 1 year

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In one of your fics, Gale refers to Katniss as a ‘kindred spirit’ and this is one of my favorite interpretations of their relationship

awww thank you! I seriously love platonic everthorne <3 so much

And on a more personal level, I relate to Katniss and Gale very deeply. I once had a best friend who was a guy that I was super close to, and just like Katniss and Gale, when we made the mistake of trying to turn the relationship into something romantic, our friendship declined.

It was heartbreaking for both of us. Four years of friendship were gone in an instant.

We went our separate ways, but eventually forgave each other at my brother's wedding (he was one of the groomsmen and I was a bridesmaid). Still, it's true that once you cross that line there's no going back to being 'just friends'. Just like Katniss said in the books. We never fully recovered from the type of friendship we once had.

So I'm very sympathetic to the erosion of Katniss and Gale's relationship that plays out over the three books.

It resonates with me, and I often connect with how Katniss was confused between platonic love and romantic love. I love writing platonic everthorne in pretty much all my stories <3 and I'm so glad you like my take on them!

#thg #platonic everthorne #platonic soulmates #Katniss and Gale as bbfs is my jam #don't crucify me #they work very well as friends ok

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mellarked-katnisseverdeen · 1 month

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I really DO love to think about Katniss, Peeta and Gale being friends Post-MJ.

Mostly because I just LOVE the idea that as the three of them come into adulthood they really do fully come to just laugh at the whole 'love triangle' thing. When things shake out and Gale see's how happy Katniss is, how much happier he is not begging and pleading for any scrap of the kind of love/affection he wants from her and both of them seeing how happy Katniss is getting to have both of them in her life in the way she is comfortable, they ALL just like. Get along great. Perhaps Katniss and Gale still have some of that distance that grew during the war, but they DO all become close and that means so much to me.

#Katniss Everdeen #Peeta Mellark #Gale Hawthorne #The Hunger Games #Everlark #But also platonic!Everthorne

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incorrect-hunger-games-quotes · 1 year

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Rue: Guys, when I die-

Thresh: If.

Rue: ???

Thresh: If you die right?

Rue:

Thresh: IF YOU DIE RIGHT???

#Best duo = Rue and Thresh #Thg #rue barnette #Thresh Morroswon #catching fire #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #mockingjay #the hunger games #everlark #clato #gale hawthorne #katniss x peeta #hunger games #Platonic #thg incorrect quotes #Rue x Marvel's spear 😜💞

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justgayloringeverthrone · 19 days

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So I'm re-reading The Hunger Games trilogy and this ine specific moment at the end of the first book has me going feral:

"When the train makes a brief stop for fuel, we're (Katniss and Peeta) allowed to go outside for some fresh air. There's no longer any need to guard us. Peeta and I walk down along the track, hand in hand, and I can't find anything to say now that we're alone. He stops to gather a bunch of flowers for me. When he presents them, I work hard to look pleased. Because he can't know that the pink-and-white flowers are the tops of wild onions and only remind me ih the hours I've spent gathering them with Gale."

Like. I'm sorry. Katniss Everdeen, I beg your finest pardon? You kissed this man multiple times, you slept with your body pressed up tightly against his for many nights, the whole country thinks you two are together AND the two of you just went through one of the most traumatizing thing ssomeone can together and you're thinking of Gale Hawthorne, your "best friend"?

Like I'm sorry, I you pick flowers for your woman and she thinks of another man, that ain't your woman.

I am so excited over this, this is undeniable Everthrone proof. I am convinced that people who don't ship Everthrone have read the books halfway with a blindfold on. She thinks of Gale despite everything, she loves him so much she would rather hunt and gather with him through the mud, for survival, for hours than take a short walk with this 5'3 Taylor Swift male knock-off where he picks her flowers.

And yes, I am going a bit overboard with the Everthrone adoration, but basically you get the point and I'm a fucking fangirl deep on the inside, in my heart, so I don't really care.

#gale hawthorne #gale hawthorne defense squad #katniss everdeen #the hunger games #galeniss #everthrone #peeta mellark #peeta mellark slander #everlark slander #everlark #platonic Everlark #thg katniss

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godofstupidsentences · 1 year

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Randomly breaking down over the thought of Katniss and Gale with the song Two Birds

#I just #I love platonic relationship so much #the end or their friendship DESTROYED me when I first read it as a child it #i could talk about them for hours #(this is not about shipping them bc Everlark owns my heart)#going back to my corner now #hunger games #gale hawthorne #katniss everdeen

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hungergamesheadcanons · 4 months

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It Takes Ten Times Longer

*Where Katniss and Finnick have a heart to heart after Peeta's warning, and Katniss learns some uncomfortable truths about just how ugly the Capitol's underbelly really is"

"It takes ten times longer to put yourself back together than it does to fall apart."

"How do you know how to put that into words?" Katniss sighed, slumping. "I feel like I've been pushing everything down for so long that I'm due to shatter, but I just couldn't find the right words to explain it."

"Because I've been the one to explain it to others." Finnick huffed out a small laugh as she looked at him in confusion, "I'll explain, but, can I braid your hair or something? My fingers are twitchy, and I don't wanna drop Annie."

Despite herself, one corner of Katniss's lips twitched upwards. How she could still smile, after Peeta's warning, after rushing to find prim, after every damn thing that had happened to her, she didn't know, but she obligingly turned to face the opposite direction. She felt Finnick's fingers brush through her hair, and heard a slight shuffling as he readjusted himself. She could also hear footsteps, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a silhouette similar to Gale's sitting down nearby.

Oh well. It didn't matter.

She and Finnick sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, his fingers combing her hair into relatively knot-free smoothness, before he spoke.

"In the Capitol," he started softly, "I was known as the Golden Boy. The Perfect Victor. I had lots of titles, you know. For some people I was cute, for others hot. Older women wanted to mother me, pinching my cheeks and feeding me cookies. Others just saw me as something to be lusted over, as a sexual object. Just part and parcel of being a victor, unfortunately.

What they don't tell you, however, is that if you are in any way desirable to the Capitol elite, your body becomes public property. You... you no longer belong to yourself. You are the property of President Snow, and President Snow will do with his toys what he wishes."

"That's fucked up," Katniss huffed, her voice quiet despite knowing that at least some of the people nearby (Gale included) were listening to this.

"Yeah. Wanna know something worse though? He doesn't just tell you what modelling contracts you take, or who's arm to sit pretty on for that particular event. If he can make money off you, he will. And the best way he could do that, in some instances, was selling us."

"You don't mean -"

"I do. There's a reason why in the District's. I was called the Capitol's Whore, Katniss. It's because I was. Yes, I was called to the Capitol for photoshoots, mentoring, parties and more - but I was primarily called there for sexual services. Services in which no matter what was asked of me, I couldn't say no."

"They threatened Annie?" She guessed, feeling sick in her stomach.

"Yeah. My family and Mags too. My dad and my two older brothers are deep-sea fishermen - it would be too easy for their ship to sink, or for the stilts my mother's house is on to fail and send them into the ocean, or for my little sisters and brother to get reaped for the games. And Mags was old - no one would bat an eye were she to pass from old age or a heart attack."

"Would they have done that to me?" She whispered, thankful that Finnick's face wasn't in her eyeline.

His hands faltered, pausing momentarily.

"I," he sighed, "I don't know. You and Peeta were a package deal - there's a good chance that at least for a few years you would have been safe, or sold as a unit."

"They did that?"

"Oh yeah," Finnick chuckled bitterly, "I'd say you could have asked Cashmere and Gloss, but they're long dead."

"What?"

"Oh yeah, the Capitol is depraved Katniss. I can't tell you how many times I've been sold as a part of a trio with them - usually the one in the middle. Usually those kinds of sickos want Games re-enactments, with me as the victim since I was nearly assaulted in my games. Poor little District 4, caught in between a District 1 sandwich. Hopelessly overpowered, and so innocent and pretty. Of course in these scenarios I was always brutally raped and then killed - I've had more knives held to my throat in sex than in the arena. But yeah, units were sold. Even incestuous ones."

"My god." Katniss wanted to be sick. She wanted to hug Finnick. She hadn't known, and what she'd said to him when she first met him hit her like a tonne of bricks. She wanted to apologize, but all that came out of her mouth was, "Are you... ok, Finnick?"

She could almost hear the half-smile as he said, "I got used to it. Eventually, after you get enough muscle memory, you can separate your mind from your actions. To be entirely honest with you, most of the times I was having sex, I was just thinking about what I wanted to eat after. Usually something sugary."

"Please tell me you didn't just eat sugar cubes while in the Capitol."

"So what if I did?" He laughed, "I damn well deserved it."

They both shared a laugh, Finnick's skilled fingers delicately twisting and twirling her hair. Katniss wouldn't have been surprised if he was tying fishermans knots - this couldn't have been easy to talk about, and she knew he could tell that some of the people nearby were awake and listening. Both of them had been in the arena too recently to let their instincts go so soon.

"But anyway, after being sold for ten years-"

"Finnick, you're 24." Katniss's stomach dropped.

"Oh yeah, you thought they'd let me get away? I was the darling of the Capitol, Katniss, as soon as they could they paid so much money to get their hands all over me." One of his hands left the braid, rubbing her shoulder gently as if in apology, before returning to its job. "The first time I was... taken, was in the hovercraft on my way out of the arena. I was drugged and the guy forced himself upon me. I felt for Haymitch when he was sent to give me the spiel and I had to tell him it had already happened, that he was too late. He threw up, and I don't even think he'd had anything to drink that day. Of course, this was kept a heavy secret, as for the first two years I was still the cute little boy in the big fluffy jumpers, but once I hit sixteen and had a couple of growth spurts my clothes started getting smaller and smaller."

Katniss shuddered, and he patted her shoulder again even as his voice had started trembling.

"But that's beside the point. The point is, after a certain point, I was the go-to person for explaining what was going to happen to Victors. I'm a little more... sensitive, than Haymitch." He forced a chuckle, hands braiding faster. "I told Johanna, in fact. She didn't believe me until her entire family died because she killed her client."

"How did you become friends?" Katniss asked.

"She had no one else." He admitted. "When she said she had no one left that she loved she meant it, Katniss. She had nothing to lose. She almost went rabid, and I didn't think we were friends until I was coming back from a client who had been rough, and she was there. I... wasn't fully there, at the time. Sometimes when things are really bad I dissociate to the point of losing track with reality. So I was having some trouble finding my body again. She stayed with me. She didn't touch me, didn't make me eat or drink, just stayed by me until I could walk myself into the room. She told me that it was because I'd stayed with her when her family died - I'd given her water and even though she'd flung it at me I'd let her scream and then got her some more. She told me it was her apology - that I shouldn't expect it again." Katniss could definitely hear the smirk as he stated, "Any time I was even fifteen minutes late after that, I'd come off that elevator to see her pacing a hole in floor 4's carpet.

She's gobby, is Johanna, and a total bitch, but only to the people she likes. Once I'd sort of wormed my way past her exterior, she kept an eye out for me in public. Whenever someone was getting uncomfortably close or handsy and hadn't paid for the privilege, she'd come whisk me away like I was needed elsewhere. You can say what you want about Johanna, but she's smart. By 'getting' me she made herself the bad guy instead of me - keeping my family safe since she had no one left. We got so close that people actually started rumours about us - mostly sexual, of course," He added like it was an afterthought. "Apparently a lot of women liked the idea of Finnick Odair being submissive to a smaller woman - once those rumours started I was on the receiving end quite a bit. Johanna's rough, but she's loyal. I had to stop her from murdering a lot of my clients because I was often hurt in some way, shape or form when I returned."

"What about Mags?" Katniss regretted the question as soon as it left her lips.

"Mags was devastated." Finnick's voice was trembling again. "When she learned what happened... she apologised. For saving my life. She'd broken rules to keep me safe, she'd tried to keep me as cute and naive and innocent in the hopes that I'd be spared..." His head was resting on Katniss's shoulder now, telltale droplets on her skin telling her everything she needed to know even as she stared intensely at nothing. She felt the twist of an elastic around the end of whatever it was Finnick had done, and when he finally let it go, he mumbled wetly, "I miss her so much, Katniss."

She turned to hug him, both of them crying overdue tears. The moment didn't last long - it couldn't, or they'd really struggle to put themselves back together - but it culminated in them both using their clothing to clumsily wipe each other's tears and trying to comfort them. Then this clumsy reassurance gave way to tired, almost hysterical laughter as they realised how ridiculous they were being, before they collapsed on Finnick's bed, held tightly in each other's arms.

It wasn't romantic, it was entirely platonic. Both of them needed this, even if neither could say it. Everything that needed to be said was conveyed through touch, whether it was a squeeze of the arm or a stroke of the back.

"What did you do with my hair?"

"It's a fishtail braid." He murmured quietly, "Traditional in 4."

"What's 4 like?" She asked, "I got to see the ocean during our Victory Tour - it was so pretty. All glittery and green-"

"It's blue, first of all, and-"

"No it's definitely green Finnick-"

As they bickered quietly, it was like nothing else existed. No one was taken, no one was dead, everything was ok. And long after most others should have been asleep, they still spoke in whispers.

"I wish I'd been taken instead of Peeta." Katniss confesses. It's not Finnick's usual method of acquiring secrets, but she knows he'll keep it. "He would have been a better Mockingjay than I can ever be."

Finnick responds in kind. "I wish I'd never been reaped. I would have loved to actually meet myself, not the shell the Capitol turned into a puppet."

"I don't think you're a puppet." She admitted quietly, "I quite like Finnick Odair. He's a nice person."

Finnick smiled weakly. "I quite like the Mockingjay too, especially when she's in her element."

#the hunger games #the hunger games fanfic #finnick odair #katniss everdeen #tw noncon #tw incest #tw rape #tw child prostitution #platonic cuddling #gale listening to finnicks trauma in the background #still believing finnicks tryna steal his girl #meanwhile katniss is like dude you good #send them straight to therapy #do not pass go #do not collect $200

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youcantseeus-fan · 1 year

Text

Fic: Burn Victim (Katniss & Gale friendship)

Warnings: Injury, discussion of death. Fic is rated T.

Written for the April 2023 genres of fan fiction prompts.

Series on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/series/3441499

________________________

Katniss comes home from hunting to find a severely burned man writhing and screaming on her kitchen table. She stands in the doorway, staring at her mother calmly cleaning the wounds. Prim, at age eleven, is rummaging around in the supply closet where Mom keeps her precious bandages. She soon finds some and brings them to the kitchen.

“Thank you, Prim,” Mom says, in her calm healer’s voice. “Katniss, you can leave if you’d like.”

Katniss makes a strangled sound. She turns and flees, slamming the door behind her. She doesn’t know why she’s so weak when it comes to stuff like this. Prim is so young in many respects and yet she still has no problem being Moms’s assistant. But it’s difficult for Katniss to even look at severely injured people.

As she storms down her front stoop, Gale looks back at her. He’d dropped her at the door with the intention of heading to the Hob, but now he’s looking at Katniss.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Katniss answers, attempting a calm voice. “Mom has a patient. It looks pretty bad.”

“Is it the sickness that’s been going around?” Gale asks.

“Burn victim,” Katniss answers, shortly.

“Huh. Accident in the mines? House fire?”

“I didn’t stay to ask.”

Gale approaches her and they lean against the house. Katniss pulls her coat tightly around her body. It’s winter and although it hasn’t snowed lately, there is a cold, drizzling rain lightly misting their faces.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Katniss comments.

“Nothing wrong with you,” Gale says, with a grunt. “Most people don’t like to look at that kind of stuff. I’m not wild about it myself.”

That might be true, but Gale doesn’t flee a room whenever he saw an injured person.

“It just hits me hard, especially when it’s a man of a certain age. I just wonder if my Dad died like that.”

Katniss wouldn’t have admitted as much to anyone else. But Gale had lost his father in the same accident. They’d never recovered the bodies, so it was impossible to say for sure exactly how they had died. Katniss has imagined him dying in so many ways. Burned, blown to bits, buried. Katniss sees him die over and over again when she closes her eyes.

“He didn’t,” Gale says.

“You don’t know—”

“Katniss. I’ve explained this before. Some people died in the initial explosion, that’s true. But they were working in a different part of the mine than our fathers. Our fathers were working deep, far away from the explosion—”

“Gale …”

Katniss is sorry that she brought it up. Gale has complex theories about what happened. He’s even looked at maps of the mine. It’s not that his theories aren’t well thought out, Katniss just doesn’t like listening to them. Gale can talk on the subject for hours.

“They could have been crushed, depending on how unstable the lower level levels were,” Gale says. “But I think it’s more likely that they survived the initial blast and later suffocated to death. It could have taken days, maybe more than a week. Capitol Coal Company left them down there.”

They’d called off the search after three days. So much of the mountain had caved in that it would have been quite expensive to dig them out. Gale could expound on this subject at length as well. Katniss doesn’t want to get him started on the Capitol. This isn’t the woods. A Peacekeeper could overhear him here.

“They could have died from smoke inhalation,” Katniss says. “That wouldn’t take days.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it based on the shape of the mine, the placement of the air vents, and how far they were from the blast site—”

“Gale. I don’t want to talk about this.”

Katniss hates his theory. It’s somehow even worse than thinking about her father dying in a fire or a cave-in. To think that he could have still been alive down there, maybe still hoping for rescue, when they were up here mourning him. Katniss can’t stomach it.

“I just like to be realistic about what happened,” Gale says.

“I know. But can we just … not do that right now.”

Gale’s face softens a bit as he looks at her.

“Sure. Do you want to come with me to the Hob after all?”

He had been headed to the Hob to sell what they’d managed to kill for the day. It isn’t much. A couple of rabbits.

Katniss straightens and pulls her hood over her head.

“Sure.”

#ficlet #angst #katniss everdeen #gale hawthorne #genres of fan fiction #rated: t #friendship #platonic everthorne #angry gale hawthorne #thg fanfiction #hunger games fanfiction

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